Crisp, Red Sox survive 2 more A-Rod homers

April 22, 2007

The Yankees' Alex Rodriguez hit two more home runs, but Coco Crisp tied the game with a two-run triple and then scored the winning run on Alex Cora's blooper during a five-run eighth inning Friday night in the Red Sox's 7-6 victory.

Crisp already was in the highlights after toppling into the Boston bullpen in pursuit of Rodriguez's second homer of the game, a three-run shot in the fifth that gave the Yankees a 5-2 lead. Rodriguez went 3-for-4 and joined Mike Schmidt, who hit 12 homers in the first 15 games in 1976, as the fastest to reach a dozen in baseball history.

The Red Sox wore green uniforms in honor of former Celtics coach Red Auerbach, who recently died. All 16 Celtics championship banners were draped from the Green Monster.

Extra innings

Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca confronted a New York tabloid reporter before the game with the Braves, apparently upset with the paper's coverage. "Stay out of my life," he yelled. It wasn't immediately clear what angered him. Julio Franco and a member of the Mets media relations department stood between Lo Duca and the reporter until Lo Duca left. ... Twins minor-league pitcher Anthony Swarzak was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for drugs.